Tokyo Olympics: Czech Beach Volleyball Player, US Gymnast Test Positive for Coronavirus
The Tokyo Olympics will be held behind closed doors amid tight health and safety protocols to ensure they do not end up being a super spreader event as is being widely feared.
Czech beach volleyball player Ondrej Perusic became the third athlete at the Games Village to test positive for COVID-19. Meanwhile, a woman gymnast training in Chiba prefecture also got infected, creating more headache for the organising committee ahead of the Tokyo Olympics set to begin on July 23.
The Tokyo Organising Committee has so far confirmed 58 Games-related COVID cases including four athletes. Two South African footballers tested positive for the coronavirus on Sunday.
On Monday, 'Kyodo' news agency reported that "a female gymnast from the United States" tested positive at her pre-Games training camp. "The name of the athlete, who is in her teens, has been withheld by the city of Inzai, Chiba Prefecture," the agency reported.
Also Read | When it Comes to Olympic Success, Size Rarely Matters
Perusic happens to be the second positive case in the Czech Olympic contingent.
"Despite following all precautions (on) Covid-19 beach volleyball player Ondrej Perusic became infected. He is currently asymptomatic and is in isolation according to the rules," the country''s official Olympic team handle posted.
"He also has absolutely no symptoms of the disease, however, PCR analysis confirmed the result of the antigen test," Czech contingent head Martin Doktor was quoted as saying by the Czech Olympic Committee's website.
"It’s still fresh information and everything is evolving very fast," he added.
The Czech Olympic Committee said that the team received a message about the Perusic's positive result this morning by email, asking them to take the player for PCR test at the village.
Also Read | Past Failures at the Games Still Haunt Archer Deepika Kumari
"We waited several hours for the result. When it turned out to be positive, we delivered Ondra'’s things. The organizers then took him to a hotel, which is designed to isolate asymptomatic cases, because Ondra is currently in good health," the team’s Chief physician Jiri Neumann said.
Perusic and his teammate David Schweiner were scheduled to play their first match on July 26 and the Czech team said it will request for a postponement.
On Sunday, South African footballers Thabiso Monyane and Kamohelo Mahlatsi and video analyst Mario Masha had returned positive results. Monyane and Mahlatsi were staying at the Games village.
(With inputs from PTI)
Get the latest reports & analysis with people's perspective on Protests, movements & deep analytical videos, discussions of the current affairs in your Telegram app. Subscribe to NewsClick's Telegram channel & get Real-Time updates on stories, as they get published on our website.
